Sustainable Environmental Communication Project: Eco-Friendly and Sensory Materials for Museums

In the context of large museum centers, numerous national and international methodological experiments show the need to consider, in wayfinding design, both the intangible issues of experience arising from perception and involvement (user-centered design), and social and environmental issues (environment-centered design). The aim of this research is to propose a tool for organizing integrated information on so-called smart materials that takes both perspectives into account. For the collection and analysis of data, the research conducted adopted a qualitative methodology that began with a first phase characterized by an in-depth review of the related literature and the relative systematization of the results. Specifically, 63 scientific articles—selected by keywords, publication date and content— were investigated. Subsequently, the methodology used included a second phase focused on the mapping and filing of the materials used for wayfinding through an investigation conducted on the material heritage cataloged in national and international material libraries, including real and virtual archives of materials. The investigation highlighted how the sensory characteristics of wayfinding materials in museums are treated separately from the environmental characteristics and how the quality of the technical information of the materials filed in the material libraries could be improved. The result of the research concerns the structuring of a ‘standard sheet’ for the cataloguing of materials that integrates technical (sensory and environmental) information while also offering a contextualization of the material within wayfinding application cases in known museums. This is an innovative tool compared to previous methods of cataloguing materials within material libraries. The integration of sensory and sustainability information in a single tool introduces a new way of interpreting materials that is useful for designing wayfinding systems within museums, helping designers to make more informed choices. Regarding the impact of research, the proposed tool facilitates designers in the selection of materials to be adopted in the wayfinding project, offering information both on their ability to offer alternative communication channels in response to different users’ sense–perceptual functioning and on their quantitative environmental impact properties. This study conducted through the integration of different multidisciplinary fields (technological approach to design, inclusive design, environmental psychology, material science, visual communication, environmental protection related to people’s well-being) offers a significant contribution in the context of museum wayfinding design, providing stakeholders with practical tools to select materials that promote inclusion and sustainability.